Apparatus for disintegrating and dispersing



May'8, 1934. T. OE N 1,958,020

APPARATUS FOR DISINTEGRATING AND DISPERSING Filed Oct. 30, 1931 ZSheets-Sheet 1 I l y// I \l 35 lNV TOR w A v 6 9w B Z 33 25 J5 W ATTORNEYj @wmx May 8, 1934. T. ROBINSON 1,958,020

APPARATUS FOR DISINTEGRATING AND DISPERSING Filed Oct. 30, 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 TOR ATTORNEYS Patented May 8, 1934 APPARATUS FOR DISINTEGRATING AND DISPERSING Thomas Robinson,

Lancaster Processes, Inc.,

New York, N. Y., assignor to New York, N. Y., a

corporation of New York Application October 30, 1931, Serial No. 572,130

This invention relates to 24 Claims.

apparatus for disuses as, for example, it may be employed for separating and breaking apart fibrous material to produce pulp and also for producing emulsions.

The machine may further be employed for the combined purpose of producing pulp and an emulsion and dispersing the emulsion through the pulp thus produced.

The machine of the invention may be employed to especial advantage in pulping waste paper,

' such as news print, magazine stock, and the like,

and an embodiment of the principles of the invention suitable for the treatment of paper will presently be described in detail, but it is to be understood that the utility of the device is not limited to the treatment of any particular material and the device may be employed f or producing emulsions and also for pulping other materials such as natural fibrous products, including grasses, peat,

woody products, etc.

The new apparatus is of the continuous type and in its operation, it produces and maintains a movement of the material to a closed circuit, at one point terial is subjected to the action of be treated through in which the maelements which serve the purpose of disintegrating as well as of propelling the material. mechanism, the treated mate Beyond the defibring rial is accumulated in a classifying chamber, from which a portion of the material of selected and uniform charvices for further trea ment.

the defibring de- Fresh material is continuously fed to the machine and mingled with the material leaving the classifying chamber and passing to the defibring mechanism.

The disintegrating operation is carried on in the new machine without t he use of rolls or knives which act to sever and otherwise shorten the fibres and the pulping action of the machine be pulped without being subje operations involving the use 0 high temperatures, and other to injure the fibres.

In the new machine, I disi is so effective that the material to be treated can cted to preliminary f strong detergents, factors which tend ntegrate the paper to release the individual fibres without tearing or injuring them and I accomplish this result by takof the paper when carried in a body of liquid, utilizing the impact effect of the high velocity bla des upon the paper thus suspended. These blades not only function to disintegrate and defelt the material but in addition serve as a propelling means by which the material is circulated through the machine so as to be repeatedly acted upon.

I effect classification which results in the production of a pulp of uniform quality by centrifugal and vortex actions and in the machine the material leaving the defelting mechanism is collected in a separating or classifying chamber. The material enters this chamber at a high velocity near the periphery thereof and moves through the chamber to an outlet under such conditions that the larger constituents in the stream which have not been completely disintegrated are returned to the operating region while such portions of the material as have been reduced to the desired extent continuously leave the chamber and pass away through a discharge. The chamber is of special design so that the centrifugal and vortex effects may be utilized to the best advantage for the accomplishment of the classifying action.

I prefer to construct the machine with a plurality of defibring chambers or tubes containing high velocity blades and these tubes all receive material at the same time and discharge the treated material into the classifying chamber. When the machine is used for the combined purpose of producing an emulsion and a pulp and dispersing the emulsion through the pulp, one or more of the tubes may be employed for producing the emulsion while the others are used for pulpmg.

The emulsifying tube is provided with the usual blades and has an inlet through which the bituminous or other product to be emulsified may be admitted in fluid form at the desired rate of feed. In the tube, the bitumen enters a stream of water which contains emulsifying agents and the blades within the tube agitate the stream and cause the bitumen to be emulsified in the usual way.

When paper stock is pulped in my machine, the distintegrating and defibring action to which the paper is subjected frees therefrom the loading materials, such as clays, casein, resins, coloring matter, and linseed oil from the ink used on printed paper. Many of these materials are of a colloidal character and the quantity present may run from 5 to 20 per cent of the dry weight of the paper, depending on the character of the latter. Such colloidal material, together with a small amount of fine fibres makes an excellent emulsifying agent'and I have found that when paper is pulped in my machine, I may use the water in which the colloids resulting from the defibring action and fine fibres are suspended, as the body of liquid in which the bitumen is emulsified. Accordingly, when the new machine is used for the combined purpose, the defibring action on the paper results in the production of a liquid suspension of colloids adapted for emulsifying and it is not necessary to utilize addi tional emulsifying material. Also, it is possible to produce in one machine a pulp through which the emulsion is widely and unformly dispersed, whereas the practice heretofore followed has usually involved the production of an emulsion as a preliminary operation carried on in a machine different from that in which the pulp is produced.

For a better understanding of the invention, reference may be had to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a plan view of the new machine;

Figure 2 is a vertical sectional view on the line 2-2 of Figure 1; Figure 3 is a view in longitudinal section through a portion of one of the defibring chambers in the machine, and

Figures 4 and 5 are sectional views on the lines 4-4 and 5-5, respectively, of Figure 3.

In the drawings, the machine is illustrated in' a form suitable for producing a pulp, or an emulsion, or a pulp-emulsion mixture.

The machine consists of a suitable base 10 on which is mounted a frame 11 provided at its top with a classifying chamber made up of a bottom 12, side walls 13, and a conical partition member 14. At its top, which is open, the chamber is provided with a stiffening member 15 in the form of an angle iron. The conical partition member 14 is mounted on the side Walls of the chamber above the bottom and it has a central opening 16 into which projects a feed pipe 1'7. In the space between the partition member and the side wall is a horizontal partition 18 serving as a floor and just above the partition 18 is an opening 19 through the side wall of the chamber, from which a discharge pipe 20 leads.

The bottom of the classifying chamber is provided with a central opening defined by a neck 21 and a tubular partition 22 mounted in the neck and extending upwardly above the bottom of the chamber a substantial distance. Leading downward from the neck is a hopper 23 communicating with a chamber 24. Feed pipe 1'7 terminates a short distance above the top of partition 22 and discharges directly into it.

A plurality of defibring chambers or tubes 25 extend radially from the chamber 24, and in the construction illustrated there are four such tubes in upper and lower levels, the tubes which are in alignment being in the same level. Extendingthrough aligned pairs of tubes is a driven shaft 26 supported in suitable bearings 27 on standards 28. Each outer end of each tube is closed by a gland construction generallyv designated 29 and at one end the shaft is provided with a coupling 30 by which is may be connected to a suitable source of power.

Each shaft extends lengthwise through a pair of aligned tubes and across the chamber 24 and within each tube the shaft carries sets of impeller blades 31. There are four sets of blades in each tube and eight blades in a set in the construction illustrated, although a greater or less number of blades may be employed according to the effect desired. The sets of blades are spaced lengthwise along the tube and between adjacent sets a series of stator vanes 32 is mounted. These vanes extend parallel to the axis of the tube and the edges of the vanes are spaced a substantial distance from the edges of the blades on either side thereof. The shaft is provided with collars 33 between the sets of blades and the collars have a diameter such that the ends of the vanes lie close to the surface of the collars. At the ends of the shaft beyond the first and last sets of blades conical collars 34 are provided.

The stator vanes are mounted in a circumferentlal recess in the tube wall and on opposite sides of each set of vanes are tubular liner members, also mounted in the recess and having an inner diameter the same as that of the main body of the tube. the ends of the impeller blades and the inner face of the liner members.

The impeller blades serve the double purpose of disintegrating the fibrous material and driving it forward through the tube. Since the action of the blades imparts a high rotational velocity to the liquid and fibrous material suspended therein, it is apparent that if no stator vanes were employed and the impeller blades were all of the same pitch, the rotational velocity of the material as it advances to the successive sets of blades along the tube would reduce the effectiveness of those later blades to a substantial degree. In the construction illustrated, this loss of efiiciency is prevented by employing the stator vanes which extend parallel to the axis of the tube. As the material leaves the first set of blades, it enters the vanes which cooperate with the collar on the shaft to form axial passages through which the material may flow. The vanes thus resist the rotational movement of the material while permitting movement lengthwise of the tube and when the material leaves the passages defined by the vanes and reaches the next set of blades the rotational velocity of the material has practically disappeared so that the blades operate on the material with full effect.

Instead of employing impeller blades and stator vanes in alternation in the manner described, it is possible to use the later blades in the series effectively in spite of the rotational velocity of the material as it leaves the first set of blades by making the blades of successively increased pitch. For some purposes, it may be desirable to omit the stator vanes and provide only the impeller and defibring blades as described.

By employing the collars on the shaft, the working space within-the tube is reduced to such an extent that there is only a thin annular passage from one end of the shaft to the other and this insures that the material will be acted on by the blades near their ends, which portions of the blades are traveling with the highest velocity. The stator vanes also assist in the disintegrating action to a substantial extent by reason of the impact of the material against the sides of the vanes as the material enters the space between them.

At its outer end, each tube is provided with a discharge elbow 36 connected by a union 37 to an elbow 38, which is connected by a union ,39 to an inlet nozzle 40 communicating through an opening 41 with the classifying chamber near its bottom. The nozzles 40 are directed tangentially as illustrated in Fig. 1.

One or more of the tubes 25 may be provided with means for the introduction of bituminous material to be emulsified and in the constructiOn illustrated, one tube in the upper level is pro- There is a small clearance between vided with an inlet pipe 42 leading into the tube near its point of connection with the chamber 24. When this tube is employed for emulsifying, while the remaining tubes are used for pulping, a dome shaped screen 43 will be mounted in the chamber 24 to prevent pulp from entering the emulsifying tube while permitting the liquid to enter. By making the screen dome shaped any pulp that may collect thereon is washed free by the pulp and liquid flowing down over the screen.

Before carrying out the pulping of paper in the machine, the paper is cut up in any convenient manner for example, in a hammer mill, into ieccs of relatively small size. The paper is then put into a vat containing water at about 160 to 170 F. and containing a detergent. For this purpose, any ordinary detergent may be employed such as soap, soda ash, or potassium abietate. The vat ordinarily contains about 90 to 95% water and 5 to 10% paper, while the amount of detergent employed will run from 2 to 3% of the dry weight of the paper. It is to be understood, however, that these proportions are not critical and may be considerably varied, depending on the type of detergent used and the character of the paper being treated. The paper is mildly agitated in .the water and the soaking and agitation continued for a short time until the paper is softened and thoroughly mixed with the detergent. When other materials than paper are to be pulped, the preliminary treatment will vary appropriately, and difierent detergents and treating agents will be used, as is well known in the art, to produce a stock suitably softened for pulping operations.

The mixture of paper and Water is now pumped from the vat through the feed line 17 and discharged into hopper 23 and chamber 24. From chamber 24, the material flows outwardly through the tubes 25 and in those tubesis acted on successively by the impeller blades and the stator vanes. The blades strike the paper, which is held by the inertia of the fluid and frictionally by the tube walls and the shaft. The shaft is driven at a high rate of speed such, for example, as 3600 R. P. M., so that the blades strike the material with a sharp impact, tearing the paper apart and separating the fibres. As the liquid and paper leave the first set of impellers, the mixture is propelled forwardly along the tube and has a high rotational velocity. This rotational movement is opposed by the vanes which constrain the fluid to move forwardly along the tube in an axial direction. Further dispersion and defibring occurs by the impact of the rapidly moving fluid against the vanes and as the fluid passes through the vanes stantially the full effect of the impact action of those blades is obtained by reason of the fluid advancing to the blades axially of the tube and without rotational movement.

It will be observed that the stationary vanes differ in design from those customarily employed in turbines, in that the vanes resist the rotational movement of the fluid and are not intended to permit the fluid to enter them with a minimum resistance as is the case in turbine construction. Also, the blades and vanes are spaced apart so that direct shearing between the edges of the blades and the edges of the vanes is eliminated. This avoids a cutting action which would tend to shorten the length of the fibres. However, in machines for treating materials on which a cutting action would not be harmful, the impellers and vanes may be spaced closely so that to the next set of blades, subadvantage is taken of this direct shearing action and a more rapid pulping results.

Beyond the last set of blades, there are no stator vanes and the fluid leaves the blades with a high rotational velocity. In this part of the tube, wall friction and hydraulic shear resulting from the high speed of whirling of the fluid in the tube are utilized to increase the dispersing action. The fluid passes upwardly from the tubes through the discharge elbows and the connection to enter the classifying chamber through the nozzles 40. Since these nozzles are tangentially disposed, the fluid whirls around the chamber at a rapid rate and as more fluid enters, there is an upward whirling movement along the side walls of the chamber and along the under surface of the inclined partition 14. As more and more liquid and paper enters the chamber, the latter is eventually filled to the point where some of the fluid mass falls inwardly away from the under surface of the partition and passes through the tubular partition 22 and thence enters hopper 23 and chamber 24.

During the operation of the machine, the material continuously introduced through the pipe 1'? is drawn directly down into chamber 24 and the material which has passed through the defibring tubes and returned to the classifying or vortex chamber also enters chamber 24 so that the two kinds of material pass through the tubes together. The material entering the chamber through the tangential nozzles 40 'and spiralling upward along the chamber walls and the partition 14 and eventually fills the outer portion of the classifying chamber until some of the pulp flows over the upper edge of the partition and down into the space between the partition and the side wall 13.

In the movement of the material upwardly along the side walls of the classifying chamber and the under side of the partition, the larger particles tend to stay in the main stream which is drawn down into hopper 23 with vortical flow, while the finely divided material passes over the top of the partition and flows out the discharge pipe. This classifying action results from the resistance offered by the inertia of the water. to movement of the larger particles in the main current. In the cylindrical portion of the classifying chamber where classification is commenced by centrifugal action, the smaller particles of the pulp may move out more freely through the body of liquid to the periphery of the chamber than the larger, bulkier particles. In the upper part of the chamber where the vortex action occurs, this action combined with the spiral motion induced by the conical partition causes thelarger pieces to be carried in the main current toward the vortex while the small particles in the outer films of the fluid adjacent the wall of the chamber overflow the edge of the cone and pass out through the discharge. As a result of the actions described, the material tition is uniform consistency which depends on the speed of the machine, the character of the material being defibred and the rate of feed of fresh stock. The amount of material discharged per unit of time is equal to the amount of fresh stock fed to the machine and the number of times that the material passes through the dispersing tubes depends on the relation between the rate of feed and the rate of total flow through all the dispersing tubes. By varying these factors, the

which overflows the parfinely disintegrated and of substantiallycharacter of the finished pulp may be varied as desired.

Ordinarily fresh stock may be completely defibred in the machine in from three to ten minutes depending on the character of the stock. During this time, the stock will pass through the defibring tubes many times so that a complete defelting action is obtained.

The material leaving the outer chamber through the discharge pipe may be used for various purposes and I contemplate that the machines described may be employed in a battery so that a part of the total defibring is performed in the first machine and the defibring operation completed in a second machine.

When the machine is to be used both for pulping and emulsifying, liquid containing paper is fed into the machine through the pipe 17 in the usual way and the paper is defibred in one or more of the impeller tubes by the action previously described. The remaining impeller tube or tubes is supplied with the material to be emulsified in fluid form through pipe 42, and water containing the colloidal matter released from the paper by the defibrin'g action enters the emulsifying tube through screen 43. The liquid is at a temperature of approximately 160 to 170 F. by reason of the preliminary heating during the detergent treatment of the paper and as the bituminous material to be emulsified enters the propeller tube, it is broken up into fine particles by the action of the blades and thoroughly mixed with the water suspension of the colloidal substances before coalescence can take place. This results in the production of an emulsion in the usual way and the emulsion passes out of the tube and upward into 'the bottom of the classifying chamber. Here, the emulsion enters the whirling body of pulp and water and is thoroughly mingled therein and the emulsion, pulp, and water mixture passes down from the classifying chamber to the impeller tubes where further dispersing operations are carried on.

The amount of bituminous material employed will vary with the character of the pulp mixture to be produced and the purpose for which it is to be used. It may run, for example, from 20 to 30% of the dry weight of the paper, although I prefer to employ much greater proportions as, for example, 150 to 200%, in the production of an asphalt paper pulp to be used in the manufacture of roofing products. When asphalt is employed for making a pulp emulsion mixture, I prefer to use one having a melting point of about the same temperature as that to which the paper and water are raised in the preliminary treatment with the detergent.

When the machine is employed for the produc- .tion of pulp from paper stock and an emulsion, I

prefer to employ one of the impeller tubes in the upper level for the emulsifying action, since in this way the flow of liquid and pulp downward past the screen to the intake ends of the lower tubes tends to keep that screen free of pulp which might otherwise clog it.

If desired, the machine maybe employed entirely for emulsifying purposes in which event, each of the tubes will be provided with an inlet near its intake end for the material to be emulsified. As an emulsifying material, I may use any of the materials heretofore commonly employed for the purpose or I may utilize the colloidal substances employed in paper manufacture and recovered from the paper by the defibring treatment in the machine together with a small amount of fine fibres. Emulsions are produced in the machine in the same way as pulp, the particles of asphalt or other bituminous material used being coated with the colloids and fibres by agitation of the mixture in the impeller tubes and by the E turbulent flow occurring elsewhere in the machine.

What I claim:

1. Apparatus of the type described comprising means including disintegrating devices for moving material to be treated through a closed circuit 8 including a tube containing said devices and means within said tube cooperating therewith to define a thin annular passage for the material, means for adding fresh material to the circulating material, and means for continuously with- 9 drawing treated material from said circuit.

2. Apparatus of the type described comprising means including disintegrating devices for moving material to be inserted through a closed circuit including a tube containing said devices 9' and means within said tube cooperating therewith to define a thin annular passage for the material, means for adding fresh material to the. circulating material, and means for accumulating treated material during its circulation and discharging a portion thereof.

3. Apparatus of the type described comprising means including disintegrating devices for moving material to be treated through a closed circuit, means for adding fresh material to the circulating material, and means for accumulating treated material during its circulation and continuously discharging a portion thereof, said means constituting a portion of said circuit.

4. Apparatus of the type described comprising llll means including impact devices for disintegrating and moving material to be treated through a closed circuit including a tube containing said devices and means within said tube cooperating therewith to define a thin annular passage for the material, means for adding fresh material to the circulating material, and means for continuously discharging treated material from said circuit;

5. Apparatus of the type described comprising means for moving material to be treated through a closed circuit, said means including rotating elements effecting a disintegrating action upon the material and a tube forming a part of said circuit and containing said elements and means cooperating with the tube to define a thin annular passage for the material, means for adding fresh material to the circulating material, and

means for continuously discharging treated material from said circuit.

6. Apparatus of the type described comprising means for moving material to be treated through a closed circuit, said means including rotary and stationary elements acting alternately on the ma.- terial to effect disintegration and dispersion thereof, means for adding fresh material to the circulating material, and means for continuously withdrawing treated material from said circuit.

'7. Apparatus of the type described comprising means, including disintegrating and dispersing devices, said devices being effective to move ma-, terial to be treated through a closed circuit, means for emulsifying a bituminous material and introducing it into the circulating material, and means for continuously withdrawing a material 3 and emulsion mixture from said circuit.

8. Apparatus of the type described comprising means, including disintegrating and dispersing devices, for moving material to be treated through a closed circuit, means for collecting and temporarily storing treated material during its circulation, means for emulsifying a bituminous material and introducing it into the collected material, and means for continuously withdrawing a material and emulsion mixture from said circuit.

9. Apparatus of the type described comprising means including agitating and propelling elements for circulating a stream of liquid containing material in suspension, means for confining said stream through the major portion of its travel, said elements being disposed within said confining means, means for introducing bituminous material in fluid form into the circulating stream to be emulsified by said agitating elements, and means for continuously withdrawing the emulsion from said stream.

10. Apparatus of the type described which comprises means, including disintegrating and dispersing devices, for moving material to be treated through a closed circuit, means for adding fresh material to that in circulation, a chamber in the circuit accumulating treated material, means for introducing the material into the chamber near the periphery thereof and withdrawing it centrally therefrom, and means in the chamber for effecting a continuous discharge of a portion of the material introduced into said chamber.

11. Apparatus of the type described which comprises means, including disintegrating and dispersing devices, for moving material to be treated through a closed circuit, a chamber in said circuit into which the material leaving said devices is introduced near the periphery of the chamber, an open connection from the chamber to said devices, means for feeding fresh material to be treated to the circulating material passing through said connection, and a discharge from said chamber eifecting continuous withdrawal of treated material from said chamber.

12. In apparatus of the type described, the combination of a tube, a driven shaft extending lengthwise of the tube, a plurality of sets of impeller blades mounted on said shaft with a space between adjacent sets, and stator vanes disposed in sets between adjacent sets of blades, said vanes extending radially inward-from the wall of the tube to terminate close to the shaft, adjacent vanes forming side walls of passages extending substantially parallel to the axis of saidshaft.

13. In apparatus of the type described, the combination of a tube, a driven shaft extending lengthwise of the tube, a series of sets of impeller blades mounted on the shaft with spaces between adjacent sets, and stator vanes disposed in sets between adjacentsets of blades, said vanes extending radially inward from the wall of the tube with their free ends lying close to the surface of the shaft, adjacent vanes forming the side walls of passages extending substantially parallel to the axis of the shaft and the lateral edges of said vanes being spaced from said blades a sufficient distance to prevent a shearing action.

14. In apparatus of the type described, the combination of a tube, a drivenshaft extending lengthwise of the tube, a series of sets of impeller blades spaced along the shaft, collars on the shaft between the sets of blades, and stator vanes mounted to extend radially into the tube with their ends lying close to the outer faces of the collars.

15. In apparatus of the type described, the combination of a tube, a shaft within the tube extending lengthwise thereof, sets of impeller blades mounted on the shaft and spaced along the tube, stator vanes mounted in the tube wall and extending inwardly toward the shaft, and means for introducing a fluid into the tube through the tube wall.

16. In apparatus of the type described, the combination of a tube, a shaft within the tube extending lengthwise thereof, sets of impeller blades mounted on the shaft and spaced along the tube, an inlet tothe tube, an outlet from the tube, a collecting chamber connected to the inlet and outlet, and means for introducing a material to be emulsified into the tube through the tube Wall.

17. In apparatus of the type described, the combination of a tube, a chamber connected to the tube at opposite ends thereof, agitating and propelling elements in the tube, means for introducing an emulsifying mixture into the tube, and means for introducing a fluid to be emulsified into the tube through the tube wall.

18. In apparatus of the type described, the combination of a tube, a shaft disposed within the tube-lengthwise thereof, sets of impeller blades mounted on the shaft, sets of stator vanes mounted in the tube wall and extending inwardly between adjacent sets of blades, the sides of the vanes being spaced a substantial distance from the sides of the blades on either side thereof, and means for introducing material to be treated into the tube through the tube wall.

19. In apparatus of the type described, a chamber having a bottom and side walls extending upwardly above the bottom, a partition extending inwardly from the side walls above the bottom, means for introducing fluid into the chamber near the periphery of the bottom, and an outlet from the chamber centrally of the bottom.

- 20. In apparatus of the type described, a chamber having a bottom and side walls extending upwardly above the bottom, a partition extending inwardly from the side walls above the bottom, a nozzle for introducing fluid into the chamber near the periphery of the bottom, and an outlet pipe projecting into the chamber centrally of the bottom.

21. In apparatus of the type described, achamber having a bottom and side walls extending up- .wardly above the bottom, a partition extending inwardly from the side walls above the bottom, a nozzle for introducing fluid into the chamber generally tangentiallyof the bottom, and an outlet from the chamber centrally of the bottom.

22. In apparatus of the type described, the combination of a tube, agitating elements within the tube, said elements including propelling blades and stator vanes in alternation an inlet to the tube at one side of the agitating elements and an outlet at the other, and means within the tube cooperating with the tube wall for defining a relatively thin annular working space within the tube.

23. In apparatus of the type described, the combination of a tube, sets of impeller blades mounted in said tube for rotary movement, each set of said blades acting upon material in said tube to agitate and advance it to the next set, the material leaving the blades of each set with substantial rotational velocity, and groups of stator vanes between the sets of blades in the path of flow of said material and opposing rotational flow while permitting rectilinear flow lengthwise of the tube, the sides of the vanes cooperating with the lateral edges of the blades to effect shearing, said vanes extending radially inward from the tube each adjacent pair of sets, a set of stator vanes extending inwardly from the tube wall toward the shaft in each of said spaces, and a pair of inlets into the tube, at least one inlet affording access to the interior of the tube through-the tube wall.

THOMAS ROBINSON. 

